Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction

A brilliant elucidation of Spinoza’s philosophical system, marred slightly by Scruton’s own ideological insertions. Seems odd to spend the majority of the book meticulously outlining Spinoza’s work, but then also trash Marx and Nietzsche based upon only the barest analysis (we’re talking 2 or 3 sentences).

This is a complicated introduction but Spinoza is a complicated philosopher and Scruton I believe does his best to introduce Spinoza's concepts and provide the reader with a solid grasp not only of Spinoza's metaphysical conclusions but also how those conclusions are arrived at.

It's quite hard to start with Spinoza so I guess this is as decent a place as any. Good luck if you plan on embarking on that journey.

DNF. It wasn't really an introduction. I had to go scurrying round the internet to find out what Spinoza meant by "extension" because the book didn't bother to explain. There was also a lot of why the author thinks Spinoza was wrong rather than an explanation of what Spinoza thought.

Got this as a preliminary guide to Spinoza to supplement "A Book Forged in Hell". Some of it was useful, but a good deal seemed to me to wander into incomprehensible discussion of philosophical issues. The problem may be mine, since I have never studied philosophy in an organized way. As an introduction, however, this is too complex.

I found it difficult. I can't say whether Scruton helped or not. It seems to me that Spinoza could be explained a little more clearly, but having started Copleston's chapters on Spinoza perhaps not.